eCritique's Bouncing Babies!

[candygourlay]

I started up eCritique in January 2007. eCritique is a by-invitation only blog where members post their work and critique via the blog's comments facility. It is set up so that it is invisible to Google and can only be accessed by password. From the handful who joined that first month, the membership two years later now numbers 58!

Not everyone participated in the critiquing (there were some dedicated lurkers) but I didn't mind because there was so much to learn from all the back and forth of commenting that went on. Some of our members have gone on to bigger and better things, and I am proud to have critiqued the work of several of the winning and commended authors in Undiscovered Voices.

eCritique had other benefits: it was nice too to put a manuscript to a face ... if one could put it that way. Knowing what people were writing and sharing in that process was a privilege but also a massive ice breaker at SCBWI events. In this lonely business, it was wonderful to meet so many people who were going through the same mill and just as passionate about writing as I was. I have met talented people I never would have otherwise met and made fast friendships because of eCritique.

Last year, we spun out PB Critique, another online blog dedicated to picture book texts. Sue Eves (whose bestselling picture book The Quiet Woman and the Noisy Dog made its first appearance on eCritique) stepped forward to run it. Unlike the come one come all nature of eCritique, it had a smaller membership (15, I believe) .

The success of PB Critique has convinced me that the way forward may be smaller groups, dedicated to particular genres or age groups. We are also trying to ensure that the new groups will be led in by pairs of admins and not just one person as it is really quite hard juggle the running of the online group, making sure everyone gets a comment, keeping the members inspired, as well as looking after all the technicalities of the group.

I am proud to announce that eCritique has given birth to not one, not two, not three, but FOUR new online critique groups. These will have limited memberships, but once they're full, what's stopping you from starting another one? Here's what we have:

Young Adult - run by Nicky Schmidt and Jeannie Waudby
11+ Fantasy - run by Jeannette Towey and Dulcinea Norton Smith
8+ - run by Dulcinea Norton Smith and Steph Williams
8+ Middle Readers and Series - run by Alexandra Page

There is one other we are cooking up but not quite ready to announce yet ... watch this space.

These will be groups of from 12 to 15 so if you want to join one, hurry hurry - message Nicky, Jeannie, Jeannette, Dulcinea, Steph or Alex on their Ning pages! I have also sent a message out on the BritishSCBWI yahoo group with their email addresses.

If you would like to run your own online group, contact me [e-mail] and I can help you through the technical bits. Who knows, like several of us, it might just transform your writing life.

[Jeannette Towey]

Thanks for the clarification, Nicky! I guess this will mean that we have a bit of a hole for anyone who's writing for the 11+ age group but it's not fantasy, but let's deal with that when we hit it. In the mean time I will add that we now have 3 vacancies in the 11+ group. So let me know if you're interested!

Jeannette

[Nicky Schmidt]

Just to post a further notice of clarification following on Candy's announcement of the new online critique groups.
There appears to be some confusion regarding groups ito age breakdowns.
The YA group is specifically for those writing for 14 years plus - usually with protagonists of 16-19 years. At this point, while most of us seem to be writing in the fantasy/paranormal/supernatural genre, we're not limited to this and some are writing realism.
For those writing fantasy with younger protagonists ie 14 - 15 years (and younger), you will probably be better served by Jeannette's 11+ Fantasy group, unless your storyline and themes are more adult.
I hope this helps.
Also, to advise, at the moment, having limited the YA Critique Group to 15 people, there are only two slots left. If need demands it, however, we may look at two YA groups, defined by genre.

[Nicky Schmidt]

Just to advise re the YA group - we only have 3 places left (the group is limited to 15 people) so do give me a shout if you want to join!

[candygourlay]

hi katherine, i will email you off list.

[Katherine Kirkland]

Hi Candy,
I've been reading about eCritique with interest. I am an illustrator and wondering if there is group I can join which specialises in this field? I am guessing the PB group may be the one most relevant, as I am also wanting to write a picture book (my ideas have not gone onto paper yet). What do you think?
Best wishes, Katherine